Education 2.0: How Metaverse Classrooms Are Revolutionizing Learning

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a growing interest in the education sector regarding the possibility of the metaverse replacing traditional classrooms. As many schools shifted to online learning, educators and policymakers explored alternative means of providing education to students.

By utilizing Web 3.0’s wide wing of the metaverse, it becomes feasible to construct a virtual classroom that can replicate real-world situations, deliver interactive and engaging experiences, and facilitate personalized learning. This virtual environment enables students to engage with one another and their instructors, allowing them to learn at their own pace.

However, concerns are rising about the impact on students’ social and emotional development due to the lack of physical interaction and accessibility issues for low-income students.

While the potential benefits are significant, it is crucial to consider the possible drawbacks and ensure that every student has equal access to this groundbreaking technology.

Therefore, to gain public opinion on the possibilities, benefits, drawbacks, risks, and potential of metaverse classrooms, Real Research, an online survey app, conducted a survey on “are metaverse classrooms the future of education?

Here are the results of the survey.

Key Highlights

  • Metaverse schools would possibly replace regular classrooms, believe 42.47%.
  • 67.17% argue that metaverse classrooms and traditional classrooms can co-exist.
  • 35.77% are extremely in favor of metaverse classrooms.

Education’s New Frontier

According to Figure 1, the majority of respondents to this survey (56.08%) acknowledge that they are well aware of metaverse classrooms, with 43.92% confessing that they are vaguely aware of the concept of metaverse classes.

Despite that, it’s notable that none of the respondents said that they were unaware of metaverse classes, suggesting the popularity it has already gained and is known to most of the population.

Among the participants who were aware of the metaverse classrooms, a total of 71.32% were in favor of metaverse classes. Specifically, 35.77% were extremely positive toward the development and rising popularity of metaverse classrooms. Another 35.55% were somewhat positive toward the same.

Stance-on-metaverse-classrooms
Fig 1: Stance on metaverse classrooms

Interestingly, 24.09% of the respondents took a neutral position, while a small percentage of respondents (3.72%) expressed slight negativity, and 0.87% adopted a severely negative one.

This shows that the popularity of metaverse classrooms has been received very positively, and especially the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in evolving people’s inclination toward such classes.

Read Also: 44% Believe That Metaverse Has the Potential To Transform Social Lifestyle

Bridging the Gap Between Learning and Technology

Furthermore, the poll asked about the likelihood of metaverse classes replacing traditional classrooms in the near future. 42.47% of respondents predicted it was somewhat likely. Additionally, 40.99% predicted that it is highly likely, whereas 13.12% stated that it is somewhat unlikely, and a minority of the sample (3.42%) think it is highly unlikely.

Likelihood-of-metaverse-classes-replacing-traditional-classes
Fig 2: Likelihood of metaverse classes replacing traditional classes

However, a significant portion of the participants (33.12%) believe that metaverse classrooms will probably exacerbate the inequalities in education, while 30.49% think it will definitely exacerbate the inequalities.

In contrast, 28.19% chose to stay neutral on this matter and 6.08% opined that metaverse classes will probably not exacerbate the inequalities, and 2.12% said it would absolutely not exacerbate the inequalities.

Ironically, when the survey asked respondents for their thoughts on who would be most benefitted from metaverse classrooms, most of them (21.63%) responded none. However, 11.98% said that professional, certification degrees students would be most benefitted by metaverse classrooms, and 11% think elementary school students would benefit the most.

Moreover, post-graduate students will benefit from metaverse classrooms, reckon 10.58%, and another 10.43% believe it will benefit high school students. Others commented that it would help other students like undergraduate students (9.55%), middle school/high school students (9.33%), preschool/kindergarten students (9.29%), and post-doctoral students (6.21%).

A Step Forward or a Step Too Far?

Meanwhile, 67.17% believe that metaverse classrooms can co-exist with traditional classrooms, while 32.83% reckoned that they could not co-exist with each other, showing that most people are optimistic about metaverse classrooms becoming a mainstream option for education.

Likelihood-of-metaverse-classes-replacing-traditional-classes-1
Fig 3: Opinion on metaverse classes and traditional classes co-existing

In the following question, the respondents were asked what they think are the benefits of metaverse classrooms. The results showed that 26.67% of respondents believed that the opportunities for global and cross-cultural learning and communication would benefit the students.

Others pointed out other benefits like giving multimedia integration and catering to different learning styles (9.07%), providing a bridge between physical and digital learning (8.27%), providing an immersive and engaging learning experience (6.96%), offering a personalized learning and adaptive teaching (6.92%), delivering more accessibility and cost-effectiveness (6.89%).

6.76% of respondents stated that metaverse classrooms enhance creativity and innovation through experiential learning, 6.74% believe that it gives a safe and controlled environment for experimentation and exploration, and 5.41% said it provides collaborative and social learning opportunities.

16.31% of the respondents asserted that metaverse classes have no benefits.

Coming to the drawbacks of metaverse classrooms, 20.58% consider the difficulty it faces in providing hands-on learning experiences as a major drawback. Limited social interaction and physical activity may lead to mental health issues and is considered a drawback of the metaverse classrooms by 9.73%.

Moreover, metaverse classes may hinder communication and social skills development, say 9.21%. The lack of face-to-face communication may lead to social anxiety, believe 8.97%, the technical issues can disrupt learning, reckon 8.3%, and the high costs and complexity of implementation may be a major disadvantage of metaverse classes, insist 7.06%.

6.9% see it as challenging for students with disabilities, 6.5% view it as a means of distraction and says it reduces attention span, and lastly, 6.45% of respondents argue it reduces accountability for student behavior and progress. However, 16.3% noted that metaverse classes have no drawbacks.

Read Also: 31% Believe Meta’s Decision to Lower the Age Requirement Would Expose Children to Cyber Bullying

Beyond the Classroom

Lastly, when respondents were asked about the risks involved with introducing metaverse classrooms in schools, 18.07% responded that some students and teachers might struggle to adapt to the virtual environment. In contrast, 14.51% argued that privacy and security concerns related to student data and online safety.

Lack of digital literacy skills or training among teachers and guardians could be a risk factor for metaverse classes, said 13.95%. Simultaneously, the potential for a digital divide based on access to technology could be a risk, considered 13.22%.

The 12.93% who stated that financial barriers to accessing necessary devices and connectivity could possibly pose a risk for metaverse classes were followed by 12.42% who highlighted that some schools might lack sufficient internet infrastructure, which can be a risk for metaverse classes to reach wider audiences.

Also, it is noteworthy that 14.90% didn’t select any of the above-mentioned risks and believe there are other external factors that pose a risk to the metaverse classrooms’ popularity.

Methodology

Survey TitleSurvey: Are Metaverse Classrooms the Future of Education?
DurationApr 18, 2023, to Apr, 25, 2023
Number of Participants10,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.